Arsenal failed to go back the top of the table as we drew 0-0 against Chelsea at the Emirates tonight.

Arsene Wenger recalled Tomas Rosicky and Mikel Arteta, while Theo Walcott retained his place after his two goal salvo against Man City 9 days ago.

The game started in tentative manner with both sides getting to grips with the difficult conditions. The first 10 minutes saw a number of misplaced passes from both sides.

Mike Dean allowed Chelsea players to get away with yellow card offences, when Azpiliqueta and Lampard fouled Ramsey and Sagna respectively, which showed the Gunners had to contend with the officials as well as the wind and the rain.

It remained a cagey affair with neither side creating much in the way of goalscoring chances. In the 25th minute a good Bacary Sagna cross created a spell of Arsenal pressure but no real attempt on goal, while at the other end a Ramires header failed to trouble Szczesny.

In the 32nd minute the visitors fashioned the best chance of the game. A ball over the top found Lampard in our box, and the England midfielder cracked a shot which beat Szczesny but cracked back off the underside of the bar. In the immediate aftermath, Torres had a shot which Szczesny saved easily, before Per Mertesacker had to be alert to block another effort from the Spaniard.

At the other end Theo Walcott clearly had his leg caught in the area by Willian but Mike Dean played on, as you would expect, just moments after ignoring a challenge by Obi Mikel on Arteta which saw his studs scrape the shin of our man. It was a 50-50 and Arteta got there first but it was, at least, a yellow card. As usual, Mike Dean let the opposition away with it.

Arsenal looked most threatening from set-pieces but when Aaron Ramsey gave the ball away from a corner, Chelsea broke down field and Szczesny had to make a smart save from Willian.

It meant the teams went in level at the break but Arsenal would have the wind at their backs for the second period.

It began in much the same way as the first, although there were signs the game might just open up a little bit as an Arsenal move caused a measure of danger before a Chelsea break had to be stifled by alert Giroud defending.

A foul on Ozil resulted in a drop ball – of course – as both sides tried to find an opening on a dirty night. It might well have been Chelsea after both Arsenal full backs got caught upfield, but with a man over Hazard’s touch at the far post was clumsy.

Ramires received a yellow card for trying to amputate Arteta’s ankle, but to even things up Mike Dean booked Walcott moments later for a mild trip. Szczesny then had to make a decent save from a low fizzing Lampard shot.

Mesut Ozil then took exception when Ivanovic tried to kick his face off, as Dean lost further control of the game. He then booked Tomas Rosicky for what looked like a foul, but little more than that. Aaron Ramsey drew the ire of his teammates by putting the ball out when that cheating little twat Ramires was down injured and Arsenal had a chance to press Chelsea deep in their half.

But a few moments later Ramsey created Arsenal’s best chance of the game, setting up Olivier Giroud at the back post, but from 8 yards, and a bit of an angle, the Frenchman sliced his shot wide. He had another chance a few moments later when he got on the end of a low Gibbs cross but Terry blocked it out for a corner.

Mourinho brought on a clutch of substitutes as he looked to secure a point away from home, while Wenger’s bench remained unused. Bacary Sagna saw a header cleared off the line and a late David Luiz free kick hit the Arsenal wall.

In the end a draw was probably fair but Arsenal will be replaying that Giroud chance and thinking that was a great opportunity to take all three points.

219 COMMENTS

Another referee shocker- but of course it’s always Johnny foreigner diving, Obi Mikel that good English lad should have broken that Spanish foreigner’s leg! Brave Chelsea boys funded by an English owner, making Richard the Lionheart proud!

We would also have won if the ref applied some common sense in full accordance with football rules, and sent brave lad John Obi Mikel off for that courageous tackle on Arteta, or gave diving foreign Walcott a penalty!

Name one who would be available in january.
Also, without giroud’s hold up play much of our one touch passing in the final third woudnt materialize and we will then have to significantly alter our style of play

I agree with you ANDR, but we need ANOTHER type of play. We cant just expect to win with one style of play. We should have a plan B. We should be able to make 2 changes, say, bring in a fast and strong striker instead of giroud, and try to put a killer ball through to him or walcott. If to walcott, this striker should make that run(though I dont wanna say it) similar to the dutch skunk, who got on the end of a few. We also need someone who can make goals on his own. Again, I agree January is not an easy time for this but I cant get myself to accept that we can mount a title challenge without a credible striker alternative to giroud.

1.defending. isn’t that what every player should do?
2 . hold up play…with a big physique that giroud has isn’t that an obvious thing and what is expected.
3. What else? what fucking esle? oh being a handsome chap.

He’s doing all the other things right other than his job which is to score in big game or recently in any game.

Can’t believe people are slating giroud so much. His improvement has been immeasurable. Yes he missed a chance that should’ve won us the game but didn’t he do that a lot more often last year? He scores more chances now and his hold up play is excellent. “That’s what he’s supposed to do” is ridiculous criticism. If it were so easy then anyone could do it. It’s actually a compliment. If only everyone could do what they were supposed to do!

That’s the second match in a row we’ve been royally fist fucked by the ref. I’d gladly accept a 2-match ban if Flamini was on the pitch to gouge Mike Dean’s eyes out. Mike Dean’s a fucking Tottenham fan through and through and will do time for match-fixing some day.

Let’s count our blessings though. Arteta should’ve had his leg cracked in half and somehow he’s still in one piece. Ozil could’ve had his fucking eye gouged out and he swerved in the nick of time.

Upwards and onwards now. Liverpool face both Chelski and $hitty now so points will be dropped. Fat Walrus has been in the same job for too long. Fancy “Sam Allardyce sacked after humiliating 6-0 loss to Arsenal at home” for a Boxing Day headline anyone?

I doubt we’ll be able to find the kind of player that will improve on what we have in January. Prinz Poldi is back, so lets prayer he start firing on all cylinders. That hammer of a left foot will make him the perfect LAJS
(Like A January signing)

Would have agreed with you after the first half but we came back in the 2nd half and had them on the ropes at the end. I reckon Wenger’s pre-match nerves must have gotten to the players. We made a fight of it 2nd half though.

That’s three of the last four (or is it the last three?) where we’ve been second best in the first half and noticeably so.

Moreover from recents of United (A), Citeh (A), and Chelsea (H), we’ve picked up one goddamn point. Throw in Everton (H) and its doubles. Yippee! That’s too many not-wins for a team that thinks it’s a title contender.

I’m not sure about that. We’re not the most adventurous side these days, we’re just effective. It doesn’t take a great coaching to limit us to 3 shots on goal and tonight we’ve had our usual number of chances. And by the way, two good chances, like the Giroud ones is not bad for a big match when you consider a clean sheet. Sometimes I think that the quality of goals we score overshadows a small number of chances we create. Anyway, not a bad point.

It’s been like this for awhile now. We just don’t find the space inbetween midfield and defence when they back home like this. Özil, Arteta, Ramsey and Rosicky stood in a line infront of Lampard and passed the ball back and forth with no real purpose. Rosicky tried many times, but you can’t start an attacking move when noone(except himself and Gibbs for Girouds chance) takes the runs.

Walcott utterly useless in games where we can’t find space infront of defenders. Same for Özil even though he worked hard to find space wherever he could find it.

We need a plan B. Hopefully Özil can find someone to do a bit of Bergkamp/Ljungberg-magic

Don’t think that we were outcoached. The teams are equal in quality or thereabouts and Mourinho came for a 0-0 draw. We had some chances, so did they…and we were never going to get the rub of the green from the third team on the pitch.

People are so obsessed with hold up play. Yes it’s a part of our game now, but I don’t remember Thierry having a sensational hold up play. But I remember one thing. If you gave him a yard or two of space he would finish you off. Same with Suarez, Falcao, and now seemingly Costa. It is what makes a striker.

I love the guy, but it is getting unbearable to see Oli pass up oppertunities in huge games! Striker is a absoloute must in Jan.
Vermalen – Solid game.
Also surprised why there was no changes from wenger

Decent effort in the conditions, especially in the second half. Chelsea are not Man City that’s for sure. I think someone like Suarez would have taken one of those chances, and that’s no disrespect to Giroud who worked his arse off. Fair result.

Fuck everybody who is connected to the FA yes even you Ivan. This is the most unfair officiating that I have ever seen. Walcott attempts a challenge, pulls out and is yellow carded while the fake Mikel almost decapitates the original Mikael and nothing is given. We are the arsenal and the rules are always different when we are involved.

My word Chelsea are dull. If you’re going to spend that much money on a football club, surely you have an obligation to make it play entertaining football. That said we weren’t up to much, but it always frustrates me that Jose always sticks to the most boringly effective means of playing football whenever they play against us. It means we’ll never actually see who would win a proper game of football.

Arteta and Rosicky looked really up for it, Mertesacker, TV5 and Sagna did exactly what they had to, but otherwise a night to forget.

Shit match but I’m happy with a point, Mourinho parked the bus and he tried to counter, people shouldn’t complain and what’s up with Giroud. He’s been poor for a month love the guy but he should be benched in favour of Podolski till he improves.

this is one of the worst days that I have ever watched a football match. Cunt commentators who kept on praising Cheski and making it sound like we were sooooooo poor. At half time, they returned to the studio and it was a celebrations of the highest number of cunts that you’ll ever see per meter square. Townsend and Owen stood by the touch screen and I couldn’t submit my ears to such torture.. I switched to Aljezeera 9 that was giving commentaries in arabic (which I do not understand) but they sounded fair

A point is not bad against a team that played as if they were managed by Pullis with the Dean of the college of Fuck Arsenal (FA) as director of operations

After that first half, I’ll take that point gladly. They were so superior to us and we were so poor it was frightening. We didn’t concede though, made a fight of it in the 2nd half and by the end we had them on the ropes. Proud of how the lads played in the 2nd half. Special mention to Gibbs who after some early jitters was amongst the first to settle and improved throughout.

In the first half? They were mate, mainly because we were so poor though. It would be embarassing to say otherwise. But like I say we came out fighting in the 2nd half, showed character. That bodes well.

First half we shaved possession, Mikel should have walked, and we should have gone in 1-0 up from a penalty. A lot of what ifs, but thats what a few shitty ref decisions can do (from a man who has plenty of form with Arsenal in that area.).

Walcott should always play on the left, on the right his useless and all he does there is wait for through balls most of his best goals have come from the left where he cuts in and curls it in and he plays there it will open up an opportunity for an out and out winger to sum it all up theo is much more dangerous on the left

Did you say the same think after the cardiff match (or any other match in which he scored)?
I am not saying that we dont need a new striker but to slag a player who has scored 10 goals already(and contributes a lot defensively) is a bit thick.

So it’s another top four race and not a title race. Ramsey and Walcott was absolutely horrendous and we have Cazorla and Flamini on the bench. Why are Wenger not making the substitutions to try and win the game? Poor fucking management.

Our form are really poor and we have two tough away games before the Bluebirds at home. The title race is going and this is not looking good.

How Ramsey appeared in the second half I will never know, He made at least 11 mistakes in the first 25 mins and twice almost cost us a goal, looks like his little spell in the lights has went to his head, more likely he is getting found out by quality players, problem is so much of our play goes through him, wait for the thumbs down, but he would never play for any of our real rivals, sorry…

I would chose a pair of toure – ramsey anyday over fernandinho – toure(toure being the more defensive player . )
Looks to me like you are one of the twitter trolls who criticized ramsey and were made to like a fool by his performances.

ANDR, You should not turn the debate personal and resort to name calling (sign of weakness) I can assure you that I am totally Arsenal.
Just as a matter of interest, how would rate his performance over the last few weeks?

I hope he can find his form again and prove that he is not just a flat track bully (hate that term), but he has been really disappointing in these games that require the players to reach that extra level. Its shite to say I have something personal against him, he seems like a good lad he plays for Arsenal, but I think he is not the player we need him to be in his position.
To cap his display he kicked the ball out after that prick Merallas or what ever the fuckers name is pretended to be injured when we were in a promising position.
I will love it if you prove me wrong Rambo!

The game was on a knife edge, going all out for it would have meant playing right into Chelsea’s tactics. The chances were created, Rosicky each time being the crucial component, but weren’t taken. On another day, Giroud would have scored at least one of them.

Dean a cunt but Dean did not miss the two great chances we had. We desperately need another striker. Giroud can’t carry us alone all season and when his form is down the drain as it has been these past few games we need another striker to step up. And fuck off Mourinho a squad worth billions and all you can do is park the bus. Utter cunt and complete embodiment of negative football.

Dean prevented at least two good chances if not more by not giving a penalty to us and by leaving Chelsea players unbooked and un-sent off, which meant there were more of the little blue bastards than there should have been who were able to get between Giroud and the goal. Playing against players who shouldn’t be there, while half of our own team are on a yellow for innocuous tackles, is why we have a worse record with Dean in charge than any other top team does. We ALWAYS have to do it the hard way when Dean is there.

A draw was a fair result (especially if you forget about the penalty that should have been). Arteta MOM. Mertesacker was also excellent.

Really don’t get why we didn’t throw on Podolski or Carzola with 15 or so minutes to go?

I really like Giroud and he is generally very good … but sadly he doesn’t have that cutting edge that we need if we are serious about winning a major trophy. He is good but not great and if we don’t buy a top striker in January then sadly I doubt we will win anything.

If you keep on using one knife over and over again every time you need a knife then eventually it will get blunt with use. Giroud had more of a cutting edge earlier in the season, and he still drags defenders out of position (except when playing shitty teams like Chelsea who defend with 10 players in their own area), holds the ball up well, and facilitates our passing on the edge of the area, even when he isn’t scoring so easily. Nine days is not a long enough break to recover from his constant playing. Ozil is suffering the same problem.

Absolute turd of a game. Mike Dean is a typical ‘look at ME , look at MEEE’ ref. Poor performances all over the pitch but at least we didn’t lose. We must start winning these so called big games at some point if we’re ever going to contest the title.

A game with so few chances. A penalty would have been pivotal. Can’t believe we have been robbed off that at home. Most teams would get half penalties at home.

Anyway, arsenal played as bad as I have seen whole of this calendar year. It’s worse time of the year to be out of form. Draws against Everton and Chelsea at home and lose against city away is not going to win us the title.

We are competing this season so that is a massive plus…..are we the finished article….no…..could we be? Yes but we still need to invest……..Any team that wants to win titles have to score goals…..tonight we came up short….I don’t think it is a disaster……and after the summer we had 99% of us would have given their left bollix to be where we are now at Christmas….the question is how do we move forward…….we simply need another striker..a world class striker…….will we get one in January???? I don’t really think so……this years title could be decided by a couple of vital goals in tight matches…at the moment we may be punching above our weight……..still the extra revenue from the rise in tickets will see another top top player arrive…….Ah the transfer window starts after Christmas…..here in lies every fans dilemma…to all of us it’s simple..splash the cash…..to the owners of the club merely competing again might be their own level of ambition…..only time will tell……..fingers crossed..

why do people blame Giroud anytime we lose? he lost a chance yes, I have seen world class striker lose much more easier chances, Tbh tht guy gives everything for the team. ya should blame Wenger for not buying another striker, even Giroud said he needs another striker.

I’m so fed up of these fans. The chance was well saved. He took it the way he should have. The other one wasn’t that clear cut for us to be screaming about it. For all the creative talent we have, Giroud should be having far more chances.

I think that one point is missed by all those folks watching at home. When you see Giroud take that shot on TV and it slips away to the side of the goal you don’t see the rain. It was pissing hard and he was hitting at a ball going across him, at a stretch, from a tight-ish angle under pressure from a defender and with a well-placed goalie filling his view. 9 out of 10 attempts by any striker would miss under those circumstances.

It’s easy to score that in your head if you’re sitting on a sofa and “know” what you would have done if it had been you out there.

I can’t believe how consistently the refereeing costs us points – game in and game out, year in and year out. It was absolutely unbelievable that Mikel stayed on the pitch after that horror challenge on Arteta. And of course, since it didn’t involve raising a finger, it won’t get reviewed. And how on earth did Dean miss that cast-iron penalty? He was standing twelve yards away, stopped, looking right at it, on a perfect angle to see Walcott take a touch then have his legs swept out. It was nailed-on! What a complete and utter cunt of a referee. Hopeless, just hopeless!

We arsenal fans always moan about the Ref in every single game. Apart from the Mikel obi tackle I thought the Ref was fair tonight. He certainly wasn’t the reason for our failure to win the game. he tried to let the game flow. ONE shot on target at home in a big game is a very poor return by any margin. No substitution by wenger didn’t help too. The fact that he didn’t instruct the boys to shoot at goal despite d crazy conditions which could have fooled the keeper is baffling.
We can’t keep passing round n round n expect to score. I felt the coach should have brought on carzola or podolski, two players who like to shoot from outside on for rosicky.
The conditions wasn’t good, our boys didn’t play well, our manager was out coached. This was definitely not the fault of the ref.

So the ref’s only mistake was to not let us play against 10 men for over half of the game and deny Chelsea of their DM.

Even if you think the penalty was OK, Ramires’ Yellow was right (probably true but makes the Mikel decision look even more stupid) — you think it is OK for Ivanovic to nearly kick Özil’s face off?

We were not out-couched, the ref allowed Chelsea to get away with too much, which is highlighted by the fact he realized he’d lost control of the game after the hour mark and booked 3 players in 10 minutes, starting with Ramires’ challenge on Arteta.

Get real fans, we were not great but the conditions were dreadful heavy rain with win speed of 60 mph lots or misplaced passes it was perfect weather condition for chelsea’s bus tactic but be real we play clean football with lot of possession and prices passing and we were affected a lot by the weather plus 2 red’s not given and strong appeal for penalty also not given giroud all around play is great but when he has a chance in front of goal he rush things and misses them especially in big games, and to explain wenger why he didn’t make changes because if he did we would be more open and maybe punished on counter with that bus tactic and lose the game westheam game was on his mind he kept players fresh for Thursday for vital 3 points , I expect 4-5 changes for Thursday and a win which would get us on first spot again. Hope for a draw between city and liverpool but one thing i’m sure that Liverpool will not lose at the bridge and suarez will punish that arrogant face. if Liverpool get a draw vs city great but they have no chance of winning at etihad.

I think the a large factor in the poor quality of the game (neither team shined) was the weather. The swirling and erratic winds caused many longer passes to miss the target. Also, the pitch and ball were slippery.

We’ve played better away from home quite a lot in the last couple of seasons. Don’t write us off on the basis of the home games. Chelsea won’t park the bus so carefully at home and that will give us a few chances. Plus, we should have Podolski and Walcott both for that game (if not an as yet unidentified new striker) so we will have a chance.

I have a feeling we will never ever beat Mourinho’s Chelsea. It is concerning how Wenger gets consistently outcoached by him. I hoped Arsenal would change the record today, but as usual they were poor. We are running out of excuses and if our ‘big’ game nerves don’t cost us the title, then bent referees certainly will.

Flowing foorball needs good weather. Parking the bus just needs a flat open space. If tactics are to blame for our failure to score and win then they must also be a factor in Chelsea’s failure to score and win. I’d say it was a draw both score-wise and tactics-wise.

I am beginning to believe we need a clinical striker alongside Giroud. A non-bitey non-racist non-diving non-cheaty version of Lewis Sweares would be nice. Anybody know where to find one at short notice?

Football vs Anti Football out there tonight. Atleast our lads tried to play their game instead of parking the bus. I mean what kind of a cuntish manager leaves out his most creative players on the bench just so he can get the team to play his way? i.e park the most expensively assembled bus. But it didn’t help because we were below par and no substitutions from Arsene was strange to say the least. We need to get some fresh legs into the side over the schedule we have and maybe try and get an alternative to Giroud. He’s looked knackered for a long time. I love our HFB but he isn’t the most clinical is he. Hopefully this is a point gained instead of two points dropped in the grander scheme of things. And Mike Dean can piss right off!

Chelsea got Torres and BA who’ve definitely got more speed and agility than our Handsome Bloke but still can’t get the goals… It’s part of the season where we tread along that top spot and all is gonna be fine… WE GONNA WIN THIS TITLE !!! COYG!!!

Is it over? The game put me to sleep and I’ve only just woken up. I can’t make out what was worse: the weather or the match.

We were well and truly Mourinhoed, weren’t we? Chelsea came for a point, and got it. Trying to break down a side which hardly ever crossed the centre line and stoutly defended with nine men proved to be too much.

The only thing to come from this game was Giroud proving for the umpteenth time that he is not a world-class striker. Suarez or Aguero would have buried that left-footed chance.

Mike Dean too some stick but for me he was right about the Walcott penalty and the Mikel sending off.

Two points from the last nine is disappointing, but we are still in the title race. Now for fuck’s sake Wenger get the chequebook out and buy a quality striker!

Jesus mother effing christ I’m so fed up with light minded idiots who can’t see beyond one game. Many people here are blaming Giroud, a guy who had two, only two chances on goal, one of which he took but was well saved and another that wasn’t clear cut.

The guy is almost always isolated and plays with his back to goal most of the time.
When cunt Persie was at his peak, every pass from Walcott and song was aimed at him. Walcott barely took a shot at goal for fear that if he missed, the cunt would come screaming at him. Same with adebayor and cesc and nasri.

For all the midfield talent we have, Giroud receives very few clear cut chances. His strength in the air is almost never used. For any striker to play well, he needs to be the focus of all the final balls. The team needs to create space and chances for him. In arsenal, it’s the opposite. Giroud has to create chances for others.

I remember when the cunt left and all fans unanimously agreed that verm should get the armband. A few bad games later and they moved on to Arteta, now it’s the BFG.
Same goes for Ramsey. When will you learn?

Cut the guy some slack. If we buy another striker, well and good. If we don’t, still well and good. We have a good squad. I think the challenge is on Wenger to think of a new style of play, preferably a more direct one.
Teams seem to have figured us out.

Mike Dean is a bald headed dick. That fact aside we’re not in a bad place at the moment. Sure these last big games have been disappointing but we’re right up there nevertheless. Hopefully January window will treat us with a potent striker and a proper substituent for Sagna, if he decides to leave.

I’m a bit puzzled why Wenger chose not to use substitutes. I’m sure Santi or Poldi would have brought mobility at the very least.

We need a striker, hopefully Wenger isn’t too stubborn to see that. But alas, I bet there’ll be no transfer activity throughout January. Giroud, sadly, isn’t quite good enough.
Apart from that there’s reason to be optimistic. Liverpool have yet to play either Chelsea or Man City, and guess who they play in their next two games? If Arsenal just do what they’ve done best so far this season, winning the games they should be winning, then we’ll be on top of the table by the New Year.

Which bloody striker? Who is available? Who won’t sell to us because we’re Arsenal? Who won’t sell to us because a rich team gazump us? Who will hold off if we approach them because they still hope they can get a job playing with City, Barcelone or Real Madrid so that they can earn better money? There are lots of reasons why we might not get the striker we all dream of (but cannot actually identify – and throwing out names of Euro Cup-tied players or players early in their contract with some other team don’t count). This super-striker everybody is fantasising about doesn’t exist, but you bet your life that if he did and we tried to sign him then 99% of Gooners would ask “Who the fuck is he? I wanted [Famous cup-tied early-in-contract has preference to play for some other team] player’s name goes here.

I really dont understand the decision not to make any subs during the entire match. Surely with not a single shot on target, we needed to change something?!

Also agree that Giroud seriously seriously needs some competition. Look what the rumours about saurez did to him at the start of the season? Imagine if we had someone actually pushing him for a starting birth, im sure those chances will start going in.

Lets hope we can start another winning streak now with our next 6 games.

Changes at the front (especially if Giroud is replaced, because he works so hard off the ball) can change the dynamic of defence. When you are in a tight game in shitty conditions then sometimes not changing personnel might be the smarter option if it preserves your clean sheet. We had a good team out there, and the attack “might” have scored at the end, but a replacement wouldn’t have been guaranteed to. For a start, if we had brought on any sub then Giroud’s chance might never have happened, for him or for anybody else.

Honeymoon was short lived. Return of the doomsday fans and the transfer experts. Now all the arsenal players are shit and we need to buy each and every player out there and we still have the highest point gain so far.smh

People are complaining about lacking a striker in January transfer..But I can say what of ADEBAYOR?Let him come back all where it started..Fans would forgive him,like we forgived BENTINER..As long as he can score goals for us.Also he can play in Champions league.

No. No, we wouldn’t. You seem to have astrangely skewed and shallow view on what is acceptable to Gooners. If a player treats our club like shit, badmouths us, gloats over our misfortunes, and then tries to kick his replacement’s face off then we do not meekly accept him back into the fold like a prodigal son.

Thankfully there are some decent fans on here. But you Giroud haters need to just shut the fuck up. Sometimes it makes me embarrassed to be a an arsenal fan because of some arsenal fans. We got a draw against a main challenger in shitty conditions. Joint top at Christmas. What’s wrong with that. Honestly.

I thought Arteta and Gibbs were good tonight. I think Ozil needs to start shooting a bit more. He gets himself into good positions to shoot and just passes. Anyway a draw is not really a bad result. A win at West ham on boxing day should see us go back top, as I can’t see Liverpool beating city at the edtihad.

He may be too knackered to find the speed to get the half yard he’d need to get a shot in. he’s playing football in a faster league than any he’s played in, where the defenders stick to him more closely than in any league he’s ever played in. If he’d stayed in Spain he would have been on bloody holiday on Monday evening. This season is a massive jolt to his system and to his understanding of how to manage himself through an entire season. Why do you think it takes imported players longer, in general, to acclimatise to the PL than it does for English players? No other league even bothers to record the distance each player has run, to the best of my knowledge. It’s a different game here.

Ok. A lot of things can be said of this game. But I didn’t get one thing. The conditions are wet and its windy, still we were playing a lot of long balls. I have no clue why. And we lost possession 90% of the times when we did that. And the worst part is Arsenal’s style of play is moving the ball and we are really good at it. Still the long balls. It was very frustrating. And we did the same in the city game too.
Btw, does anyone have a valid reason that why Wenger did not use any of our subs at all?!

This was a carbon copy of the booring Manu Chelsea game and obviously the way Mourinho wants to play the game against the big teams. As was mentioned in the after game interviews they said that his plan is to shut down the top teams and then beat the teams that they should. the weather conditions didn’t help out game either. I don’t think we should be panicking about our offense just yet.once we can get Podolski back into the game it should improve our striking ability.

Alright gooners. We should’ve won today in all honesty what with Giroud’s chance and the penalty not given in the first half. 2-1 to Arsenal easy. But to be fair to our boys, the conditions were fucking abysmal! We will bounce back and I still believe this is our season. A turning point for us!

Anyway, here’s to all of you. Merry Fucking Christmas!

Thanks for making this a fantastic year. And see for the Boxing Day match!

You can’t blame the referee, his influence only goes so far. A good team will beat a poor team no matter what the ref does. If you score more goals than your opponent then you win the game, and that’s up to the players.

Chelsea were the better team creating a lot of chances while Arsenal mustered up two half-hearted lame attempts. It pains me to say it but Arsenal were lucky to come away with a draw.

An hour gone without a single shot on goal. Not a single Arsenal player was having a good game so why not try a substitution or three, it couldn’t have got any worse. Wenger’s never been tactically astute but at lease he hasn’t got Luzhny to bring on to fuck things up any more.

Arsenal haven been found out in the last four games and the outlook isn’t good, they’re going to really struggle to keep in the top four. You just can’t keep blaming everyone else for being shit yourself.

I like Giroud, but let’s face it, he’s no Suarez. Why was Flamini on the bench? The guy’s a born winner and is always up for it. Ramsey’s hit last season’s form just at the wrong time, but he wasn’t alone, they all had a shocker.

I’m so deflated after watching that tripe that I’ve even turned down the offer of a bj from the missus to cheer me up.

A 0-0 draw is hardly the end of the world against another title contender. If we were playing Accrington Stanley then your contention that a good team will beat a poor team no matter what holds but Chelsea is hardly chopped liver despite their unappetizing style of play. Face it realist you are actually a pessimist.

There is a long and complex counterargument to this, but essentially it just boils down to:

bollocks.

Not going beyond the first paragraph, but taking each sentence: 1). The ref has complete control of how the game plays, often in very subtle ways. 2). See August 17th. 3). The players put the ball in the net, but the officials decide the goals through: offside, fouls, penalties, advantages.

Testicles. A biased ref can book a team out of the game. A booking to a player makes him hesitant in the tackle unless he’s stupid. A biased ref will book Arsenal players for non-event tackles, thus making them hesitant, while not booking opposition players for stamps on ankles or kicks into faces, thus conserving the confidence of the opposition if not outright encouraging them to go in hard safe in the knowledge that they will have to kill to be booked.

Good plan. Ignore any big goals in big matches that Giroud scores so that you can say that he can’t score big goals in big matches. Every game is worth 3 points. They’re all big. This one was more hype than big.

I don’t know how long it’ll take before it becomes obvious to u HFB fans- Oliver Giroud is an average striker. Its just the truth. Any serious title contender will not have Giroud as their first choice. For all his hard work, hold up play and all, he’s just not world class.

Watching here in the States, and all of the commentators had it spot on. After the first replay BOTH Arlo White and Graham Le Seaux called it a straight red card…and Robbie Earle at halftime said Mikel was a coward for making a tackle a like and should have been sent straight off.

Walcott was def a penalty. Mike Dean is a cunt.

Giroud needs to finish those. Its tough they got a great keeper but you have to take those in these matches.

A point is not an awful result. Vermaelen did well I thought and Arteta took huge punishment and still barely put a foot wrong.

I was at the game tonight…and Mike Dean was a complete cunt. He let Chelsea get away with murder, bad fouls, shirt pulling everywhere, and he denied a stonewall penalty, just a shocking display but it doesn’t surprise me anymore, he’s like it every time. Horrible little cunty twat fuck face cunt! Amazing to come away from an Arsenal Chelsea game and the cuntiest person on the pitch wasn’t John Terry!!!

Anyway, I thought the game was a bit of a stalemate. Chelsea were just set up to defend (Mikel and Ramires in midfield, and I cant really remember their fullbacks getting forward much) and tried and nick a goal on the break. We looked very cautious from the off and didn’t look like we wanted to expose ourselves too much. As much as I hate them, Chelsea defended very well and made it difficult for us to find space to play, Torres in particular worked his bollocks off for them which made us look a bit nervous. Much better second half, and had the chances to win. Toward the end I think we showed that we’ve maybe learned a lesson, in that we’ve lost games by trying to win it late on against the better teams, and seemed to keep our dicipline pretty well while trying for a goal. I think this is why Wenger didn’t make any subs which may have upset the balance. Frustrating, but a good point in the grand scheme of things. Joint top at Christmas is a very good position to be in for any team. I think the most important thing tonight was not to lose after recent results which we did, and steady the ship. And with a bit more luck, better finishing and a ref that isn’t such a cunt we may have had a win tonight.

I understand the fact that everything chelsea oozes huge cuntery but to be a proud cunt is another thing entirely, Ivanovic brushing Ozil’s face and still had no kind words for the German highlights how chelsea are a bunch of proud cunts. Not so much of a bad game considering the conditions and Mike fucking Dean, what a thundercunt. Looserpool next two games is against the billionaires, so two draws should be good for us or a win at slumford bridge. The game against the french B national team’s gonna be a bit tricky though, i expect us to bag six points in our nxt twoo games.

Podolski should have played or at very least come on for the under-performing (by recent high standards) Ramsey for the last 20 minutes. Flamini could have been introduced in concert to shore things up next to Arteta and guard against their quick breaks by Chelsea which tended to outnumber our defenders who for the most part I felt coped well (well done Vermaelen)

Podolski would have also stretched out our play rather than concentrate it at RW thereby affording the opportunity for Chelsea to close in and deny Walcott/Sagna space (Since Ozil at LW would invariably cut in)

+ Giroud was really poor with his finishing. Podolski would have doubled our chances with his better clinical ability ghosting in from LW.

Wenger was poor in team balance over last 3 games and poor with adjusting quickly to tactical decisions on the field.

Mourinho took Hazard and then Willian off when we were in the ascendancy. Instead of loading Podolski to pile pressure on them, Wenger opted for nothing in interest of ‘safety first’.

that safety first approach IMO has been our achilles heel over recent games. We needed a bit more conviction and to break up field with numbers. Instead, we were again calculating points in the way we approached the game.

Giroud has been exceeding expectations so far this season, thanx for that. He is not a world class striker though. So much i can say after today. Not that anyone had a massive game though except maybe Rosicky and Verminator which both overperformed. With the best midfield in the league i cant believe we didnt create more? Ozil, Walcott, Ramsey, none of them came up to even close to a decent standard. We had over a week rest as well. Arteta was a warrior as usual and did his defensive duties.
To continue our momentum now we actually need to sign a big name striker, a lethal box player like Higuain. An Alan Shearer type of striker.. Right place at the right time, when he gets half a chance he performs.. We have no options upfront as it is at the moment and i hate to see the momentum we had slip away further. 2 away games now coming up and we need to win both thats it! After that the transfer window is open and please Arsene SURPRISE me again!

Mike “Arsenal hating cunt” Dean should be sacked. That bald penis looking abomination should never be allowed near a country where football is being played. He belongs in a dark cellar deep underground.